With CES starting next week, we check in with Gary Shapiro, the head of the organization putting the show on, to learn about some of the highlights of the massive consumer electronics show. Check it out in the latest episode of our podcast.

On average, consumers plan to spend $1,634 this holiday on all goods. About $842 of that will be spent on gifts, up 9 percent from a year ago. Consumers plan to spend an average of $252 on consumer electronics this year, up from last year’s $246.

Last year, Steve Ballmer delivered Microsoft’s last CES keynote. Now the Consumer Electronics Association has announced his successor: Qualcomm’s chairman and chief executive Dr. Paul Jacobs. And it has confirmed that Microsoft will have a dramatically reduced role at the show.

The U.S. needs to address the looming wireless spectrum crunch to allow for continued innovation in broadband wireless, Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski said Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show.